Wednesday, 27 July.  Arrived at the camel breeder’s ger.  First time on a camel.  Nothing estraordinary, though hanging on while the camel stands is weird.  Each camel was individually led by the father and his children and children’s friend.  Our young ladies were deemed skilled enough to steer without escorts.  We circled several dunes, lined up for a camera shoot, then encountered a faux wolf, causing every camel to come to a sudden halt.  The “wolf” was our camera-bound companion who declined a ride in favor of crawling upon the dunes and scaring our camels.

We did the camel ride in two sets, so I volunteer to lead a camel.  No tourist had ever asked to do this before.  Aren’t I the adventurous one?  My only fear was that the camel would spit on me.  The guide said it would stay with me for days.  Ugh.  But I had fun getting a closeup view of the massive camel head.  How the neck holds it up is beyond me.

We had lunch at yet another ger camp and then visited the Flaming Cliffs of the Gobi, where dinosaur eggs were first discovered.  I can only assume that the “Flaming” part is obvious at sundown.  Again, the Grand Canyon it’s not.  But the lack of any posted safety concerns was noteworthy.  It was a hot day, so the purchase of a $2 can of warm coke at the parking lot was welcome.  Any thirsty American would have paid $5.

Back at our camp we opened up our two liter bottle of beer, some foul smelling but sweet tasting vodka liquor and munched cookies as horses passed in front.  During dinner the staff donned beautiful costumes and danced for us.  Magical times in the Gobi!